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Alexis Davison spent part of this past summer helping strangers in Mississippi’s brutal heat and humidity, hundreds of miles from home and with no cell phone, electronic toys or gadgets.

That was just how she wanted it.

Davison, a 17-year-old senior at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre, volunteered with the Pontifical Mission Society of Scranton, helping the poor and disadvantaged of northern Mississippi, near the Tennessee border.

She joined a group of volunteers who helped fix up and refurbish the home of a woman who had been away for years, caring for her ailing and elderly mother. In that time, people had vandalized the woman’s house, and she could not afford to have it repaired.

Davison and her group set to work, installing wood flooring and doing what she called “basic construction and labor work,” in heat that reached 107 degrees with suffocating humidity.

With the sweat and effort came a life lesson in compassion and acceptance.

The neighbors of the home where the group worked greeted the young volunteers with classic southern hospitality, Davison said.

“They were so welcoming, it was amazing,” she said.

Davison also helped at a women’s shelter in Memphis, Tennessee, about 40 miles from the home construction site. The shelter served not just women, but children, some of whom came from horrific backgrounds, she said.

That led to another lesson in how well people, especially children, can cope with life’s harsher side.

“You wouldn’t know the horrible conditions they were coming from just by talking to them,” she said.

Her summer mission was just one of many volunteer and service efforts that Davison has been involved in since childhood, according to her parents, Robert and Anna Marie Davison.

They named their third daughter Alexis since the name means “helper of mankind” in Greek, Anna Marie Davison said. Almost since birth, Alexis has proven the name fits, her mother said.

Alexis credited her family, including her parents and two older sisters, Kristin and Olivia, with inspiring her ethic of hard work and service.

“The whole family has it instilled in us to do something for others,” she said.

The Davison family lives in Dallas Township, which means Alexis has at least a 20-minute ride to school each morning. She chose to attend Holy Redeemer even though the family lives less than a mile from Dallas High School in large part due to her deep faith, she said.

“It was a tough decision; I could have walked to Dallas High,” she said, but added that the chance to combine her love of learning with furthering her understanding and experience of the Catholic faith guided her to Holy Redeemer.

Davison’s academic and volunteer resume extends over several pages. She cited her service as an active member of the Luzerne Foundation Youth Advisory Council as especially meaningful. She joined the council two years ago and is now an officer.

Time management is one of the keys to keeping irons in so many fires all at once, Davison and her father, an attorney with an office in Kingston, agreed.

They make the most of the 12-mile ride to school and work each morning, listening to news, jazz and classical music on college and public radio. They also make time to talk, they said.

Davison’s parents expressed pride in their high-achieving daughter during an interview last month.

“The size of her intellect and talent is only exceeded by the size of her heart,” Robert Davison said.

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